


À La Claire Fontaine

by Payphone (canisfloria)



Series: Amour Sans Fin [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akuma, Baby Death, Chloe and Nathaniel family, F/M, Flashbacks, Kwamis - Freeform, Ladybug - Freeform, Mayor Bourgeois is dead, Medical Terms, Minor kisses, No Luka/Lila, Queen Bee, Sickness, chat noir - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-04-30 13:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14498061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canisfloria/pseuds/Payphone
Summary: Chloé and Nathaniel welcome a beautiful baby girl to the world, but things prove to be difficult when she’s staying up every night crying. When she falls victim to a deadly disease, both new parents must deal with the grief they never expected could happen.





	À La Claire Fontaine

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot takes place before the wedding of Adrien and Marinette, then a little bit after it in the last section. Thanks for the support on the last part, and I hope this holds up to that one. Please let me know if there are any mistakes!
> 
> Translations:
> 
> “À La Claire Fontaine” - the name of a French lullaby, a few of the English lyrics are written in the story 
> 
> “Mme./Madame” - a title to refer to married women 
> 
> “L' amour” - means love, a term of endearment

Cries rang out through the lavishly decorated house. They were piercing even to Chloé, who had grown used to her daughter’s midnight tantrums. Alarmed, the blonde rushed out of the bed she shared with her husband to the Nursery down the hall. Her nightgown, short but modest, left her bare legs to the cold air. She did not care much as she strode to stand beside her baby’s crib, and slowly picked up her daughter to hold.

“Bienna,” Chloé tried to soothe her daughter, but was unsuccessful as more screeches filled the room. She rocked her baby, desperately trying to get the noise to quiet down. “Shh...” Her voice belted over the young girl’s.

“Everything alright with you two?” Nathaniel asked as he stepped into the room, “I haven’t heard her cry that much since Honey was taken away from her by Diann.”

Honey was their daughter’s stuffed bee, a toy her mother specifically chose. She never went anywhere without it, and was furious when Diann, her cousin, took it from her for a second.

Chloé looked down into Bienna’s glistening blue eyes. “I don’t blame her, Queens don’t like things to be stolen from them,” She giggled, and rested her head on her husband’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I know,” He teased, “A certain Queen Bee almost wrecked an akuma because they looked at me.”

“Hey!” She whispered loudly, “Slowtart was totally checking you out.”

Nath laughed, “The akuma was called Blowdart, Mme. Bourgeois-Kurtzberg.” His wife smirked at the use of her formal name, which she received two years ago.

“Whatever,” The blue-eyed woman scoffed, and returned to her daughter. “Should I sing for her?”

“Go ahead, _L' amour_.” Her husband smiled warmly then looked to his ginger-haired baby.

Chloé grinned as she started to belt softly. “ _By the clear fountain,_   _on my promenade_ ,” She cooed, “ _I found the water so fair, that I stopped there to bathe_.”

Nathaniel finished the first verse for her. “ _I have loved you for a long, long time._   _Never will I forget you_.” As they put their small child back to sleep, both parents couldn’t help but think they were lucky to have one another.

——

One year later, they were still dealing with the regular episodes of their daughter. Fits of screaming and balled fists plagued their household, but everyone was clueless to what was happening with her. Now the parents of the one-year-old gathered all their friends around to discuss the predicament.

“Are you sure this isn’t just normal for babies?” Nino asked as he took off his headphones. “Etta and Ella used to cry a lot, right?” He looked over to his girlfriend.

Alya scratched her neck. “They were only at Bienna’s level for a little while, but calmed down.”

Chloé sighed in dismay as she pressed her nose into her husband’s shoulder. He raised a hand to lightly comb his fingers through her wavy hair. “We’ll find out what’s wrong with her, I swear,” Nath promised.

Marinette wrinkled her nose in a joking manner at the interaction. Her black hair had grown over the years to reach just past her shoulder blades, and it was in a low bun as of now. “We’re the Miraculous Team, we can do anything!” She smirked in a very Ladybug manner.

“My Lady,” Adrien jumped in, “You know I have enormous amounts of faith in you, but how exactly does that help us right now?”

“It doesn’t,” Alya finished for Marinette, “However, it can give us hope that we might be able to do something for Princess Bee.”

Chloé smiled at her friends, and her daughter’s nickname. “Thank you, I couldn’t ask for better people to be Bienna’s extended family.” Nino chuckled, and gripped Alya’s hand. Marinette and Adrien shared glances with each other, somehow being able to communicate without words. The blonde girl grasped onto her red-headed husband then looked to the five kwamis in the corner.

Could they really help her child?

——

The wind pushed against her, and blonde hair whipped across her face as she ran in a black-and-yellow costume. She received a call on her trompo just as she landed on the rooftop of Norte Dame.

“Ladybug?” She asked, annoyance bouncing off the word. The spotted superhero was also with Chat Noir, and both had troubled faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Queen Bee,” The black-haired female on the other side of the video call started, “The akuma is heading towards your hotel.”

Queen Bee’s breathing stopped as she froze. Her daughter and husband, the loves of the life, were both in there. She broke out into sprints as she ended the call to throw her stringed weapon. Whipping through the air, only the thought of keeping her family safe was present.

Soon she landed to the sight of a man with a long robe of brown fur draped across his shoulders; a golden badge was molded into it. His under-clothes were black, and matched his hair. The most notable feature of him was the long nose of brown fur that grew out of his pale skin. He was sniffing the air, and his eyes glanced around like a wild animal’s.

“Agent Mole!” She began to beg to him, “Please leave Le Grand Paris alone.”

The distorted face of the akuma glared back at her. As a civilian he was Aleixo Delorme, a policeman notorious for busting some of the toughest criminals known to their city. However, after being caught relaying information to outside sources about current cases, he was terminated from his position. It wasn’t until other co-workers started to taunt him did Hawkmoth begin to control him. Bee knew all this because of Chat Noir; his day job was being a detective.

Agent Mole let out a snarl. “I don’t listen to pampered Miraculous holders!” He screeched, and tried to throw one of his makeshift badges at her. If a badge caught her it would make her dig a hole in the ground so she could not move any longer. The superhero jumped out of the way, and landed near the entrance of the hotel.

“Is that any way to treat your Queen?” She hissed, and threw her tromp to wrap around the akuma’s wrist. He struggled, and tried to snip at the string; it only made her pull tighter. “Ladybug and Chat Noir, I could really use your help right now!”

“Don’t worry Bee, we got this,” Ladybug landed beside her, and threw a red-and-black yoyo to land beside the tromp. “Go check on the Kurtzbergs.” Chat Noir landed next to his girlfriend, and nodded along to her words.

Queen Bee flung her weapon off the akuma, and ran to inside the hotel, allowing the two major akuma holders to do this one without her. Her body felt on fire as she just tried to see if her family was alright. No employees stopped her, they knew by now that a miraculous holder only went into places for good reasons. She quickly attached her tromp to her hip, so she could dash faster through the halls without any weight in her hands.

When she entered the elevator and pressed the top floor button, the superhero let herself breathe for a second. Everything would be alright, she stopped the akuma in time. Yet something felt wrong to her, and it was making difficult to look on the bright side. What if Agent Mole harmed them? Was there a chance that Aleixo could stop his akumatized self from doing so?

The doors to the highest floor open, and she made her way to the penthouse where her family resided. Flinging open the wide double doors to the entrance, Queen Bee saw a sight that would be forever etched in the mind.

Nathaniel, with tears rolling down his cheeks, seemed to be on the phone with someone, but her gaze locked onto the almost lifeless body of her ginger daughter. She was frozen, unable to understand what was happening, or how things came to be.

“Please, hurry!” Her husband wailed then looked up. His eyes widened when he spotted his wife, and immediately walked over to her. Their baby, lacking any of her usual giggles, rested in his arms. Nathaniel shut off his phone, and watched sorrowfully as Queen Bee dropped her transformation.

“Nath,” Chloé whispered his name softly. “What’s wrong with Bienna?” She carefully took her daughter, wanting nothing more for her to open her shimmering blue eyes.

The red-headed man looked almost painful as he tried to explain. “I left her in the main room to play with Honey, so I could prepare lunch. When I came back, she was dropped on the rug like she was sleeping. I knew something was wrong, but then Agent Mole attacked this part of the city while I tried to reach help.” Chloé hugged her daughter to her chest as she cried loudly, just like Bienna did every night.

She cried for her baby. Her life. Her honeybee.

The blond didn’t register Pollen flying into her purse as people came in. She didn’t even notice medical officers forming into her home. All that mattered was watching her daughter.

——

When she was nineteen, the Bourgeois family went from two members to one. Her father, after years of being a political official, took his final breath because of a disease he fought all of his life. Despite her hatred towards it already, she didn’t realize that her feelings of resentment would only grow.

“Brugada syndrome?” Nathaniel stared at Dr. Cauchon. “Bienna has that?”

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck. “Mayor Bourgeois passed away because of that exact disease. It’s also genetic, so it’s even higher for your daughter to have it. Symptoms of the disease can begin with abnormal heart rhythm, this explains why your daughter stayed up nights crying due to the pain,” Cauchon stated, “Those affected can experience passing out, and it may happen often after this.”

“Can we treat it?” Chloé inquired hesitantly. Her husband took her hand, and held it tight.

“There is medication like Quinidine and Isoprenaline,” Cauchon’s brow furrowed as he continued, “However, Quinidine has major risks such as cinchonism, and can invoke Torsades de Pointes - a dangerous heart rhythm that can lead to death. Even Isoprenaline cannot be taken long-term, and leads to things like nausea and irregular heartbeats.”

Crest-fallen faces flooded the room, and the married couple grabbed onto each other fearfully. “Are you saying that we may not be able to save our daughter?” Chloé questioned lowly.

Dr. Cauchon’s eyes drifted downwards to the floor. “Your child is too young for the treatments we can offer, and I’m afraid she’s already reached critical levels of the syndrome.”

The blonde woman held a hand to her mouth as she tried to hold back screams. Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. “I’ll leave you two alone,” The doctor said as he left. Chloé let sadness come out, and hugged Nathaniel tight as they both wondered what they did now.

Their daughter was being watched by some nurses, but she wanted nothing more than to hold her right now. “I’m going to get our baby,” She mumbled, and left her tear-faced husband to himself for a moment.

——

“ _I have lost my dear friend without just cause_ ,” The mother crooned, “ _For a bouquet of roses, that I refused her._ ” She dug her nails into the plush softness of a stuffed bee. Her hair flew into her face because of the harsh winds, but she did not blink an eye.

Before her, the smallest of coffins was being carefully nestled into the ground. Silence filled the air from the other guests of the funeral; no one dared to interrupt the soft singing of the woman. Her gaze rested on the tiny headstone, the words ‘Bienna Eloise Kurtzberg’ were written, and under that read ‘The youngest of honeybees’.

“ _I have loved her for a long, long time_ ,” Chloé’s voice broke, “ _Never will I forget her_.”

She wept as they threw dirt on the casket, and never let go of Honey. Her daughter was gone. All she had left was Nathaniel, and her friends; none of that helped her right now. The woman just wanted to hold her baby one more time. Just once more.

Was that too much to ask?

——

The light blue dress fit to her frame nicely, and hugged every curve that she knew her husband adored. It brought out her eyes, and she loved the way it made her feel. Beautiful.

“So why did you want me to leave Adrien’s party to come meet you before the wedding?” Nathaniel wondered, and sat down next to her on their couch. “Nothing’s wrong, right?”

Chloé grinned, and bent forward to plant a kiss on her husband’s lips. She felt him press back against her, but she broke the lip-lock before too much happened. It was a year since they lost Bienna, and steps were taken one at a time to get where they were now. “I have some amazing news, husband,” She chuckled.

Nath smiled at her excitement. “What is it?”

The blonde made her eyes meet his. “We’re going to have a baby!” Chloé cheered nervously, and felt relief once her partner beamed widely. She jumped on him as their mouths met once again, not caring that their best friends were getting married in an hour.

——

Mathieu Alec Kurtzberg was a tiny boy with blonde hair and turquoise eyes. He was bouncing, and full of life. Chloé held him tight, and so did his father.

Fortunately, he didn’t fall victim to the disease that took his grandfather and sister. Still, his parents watched and smiled every time he did something that filled them with happiness. He was a bumblebee – not so sweet, but still full of positive energy.

His parents watched, but not out of worry – only out of amazement.


End file.
